Nutrition is an important aspect of care for any patient entering the hospital, but the patient admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) is at an even higher risk for nutritional compromise. Nutrition affects all ages, from the neonate to the geriatric patient, and all patient populations. Evidence-based practice guidelines regarding appropriate nutritional support within the critical care setting are published. Yet, researchers continue to identify that despite published evidence, countless ICU patients continue to lack adequate and timely nutritional support on admission. Each of the authors in this issue promotes nutrition in their careers and individual practice areas, which brings knowledge from many different arenas throughout the nation. This issue discusses nutrition throughout the lifespan, special patient populations, implementation of guidelines, and how nutrition is being utilized as medical therapy.

This issue of Critical Care Nursing Clinics, Guest Edited by Debora Simmons, RN, MSN, CCRN, CCNS, will feature such article topics as: Cause Mapping Critical Events; Blood Bank Safety in the ICU; Patient Safety in Perinatal Care; High Risk Drugs in Critical Areas; Enteral Feeding Tubing Misconnections; Safe Practices for Enteral Nutrition; Negotiating Safety; Device Complexity and Human Factors; Decreasing Risk; Delirium in ICU; and Voice of the Patient.

A complete state-of-the-art manual on nutritional support for ICU patients, the present book, written by internationally renowned specialists, addresses fundamental aspects of the pathophysiological response to injury as well as practical issues of nutritional care. New features include an analysis of gene polymorphism and its possible consequences for the survival of traumatized patients. A better understanding of this process could become a basis for defining new nutritional strategies. Hence the discussion on indications for immune-enhancing diets. Of special interest is the research on copathologies (i.e. obesity) which can change the prognosis of ICU patients who thus require specific nutritional support. Entirely new is the merging of the recommendations of international and national societies (e.g. ASPEN, ESPEN), first realized for this publication. This book is a basic tool for any professional in the field of nutritional care for ICU patients: intensivists, surgeons, pharmacists, dieticians, and PhD students.

This issue of Endocrinology Clinics brings the reader up to date on the important advances in research surrounding acute diabetic complications. Guest edited by Leonid Poretsky and Eliana Liao, the topics covered include retinopathy, neuropathy, gastrointestinal complications, diabetic foot, dental complications, dermatologic complications, and more.